Maroon Colored Glasses

Medicare open enrollment commercial?

2011-11-30T21:45:00.001-06:00

or covert Obama-care propaganda?

I keep seeing this commercial, where the old men are sitting on the park bench, discussing the deadline for medicare open enrollment. Towards the end, one of the old men makes a comment about 'medicare gives you free this and free that and 50% off Rx drugs when you're in the donut hole........'. Then he slips in the comment, "it's all part of the health care law."

Is this an effort to subliminally endear seniors to Obama-care? I think it is. Watch and see:

Marybeth Hicks' "Viral" Column on OWS Protesters

2011-11-05T10:08:00.001-05:00

This week, I received a "viral" email from my mom, which contained the pasted text from Washington Times columnist Marybeth Hicks' recent piece, titled "Some Belated Parental Advice to Protesters". It was a funny and insightful column, which I forwarded to many of my friends. (I even strategically included some of my liberal friends, whom I'm certain ignorantly support the OWS movement.)

Upon further research of Marybeth Hicks, I discovered that she is also an author of a book, titled "Don't Let The Kids Drink the Kool-Aid", and also that her article I had forwarded, was actually part three in a three part series. All three of the articles are excellent, and are linked below, as well as her most recent column. As the father of a 16 year old, I will also be reading her book, although I'm certain I already know what's in it, since it appears this brilliant author and columnist thinks a lot like me. ;-)

HICKS: Vision of a ‘just society’ is just plain funny

HICKS: Wishing I was wrong about the ‘Occupiers’

HICKS: Some belated parental advice to protesters

HICKS: Occupiers prove point of column in emails

Colbert with Occupy people

2011-11-01T09:50:00.005-05:00

funny how he tries to learn their hand signs and their own parliamentary order

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

yeah, let's tax the rich

2011-11-01T09:18:00.001-05:00

Herman Cain: Blacks Have Been "Brainwashed"

2011-09-29T07:38:00.000-05:00

Herman Cain: Blacks Have Been "Brainwashed"

"Strong word", but Mr. Cain is not afraid to speak what he's thinking.

he's not running

2011-09-27T21:34:00.001-05:00

Allen West just always gets it right

2011-09-23T12:27:00.000-05:00

Media Myth Debunked: Millionaires Don't Pay Less Tax as Percent of Income Than Lower Earners | NewsBusters.org

2011-09-20T08:37:00.000-05:00

Media Myth Debunked: Millionaires Don't Pay Less Tax as Percent of Income Than Lower Earners | NewsBusters.org

Thank you Noel Sheppard for doing this research, which exposes Obama's taxation fabrication being propagated by his MSM minions. The "Buffett Rule" is horse excrement.

O'Reilly on Obama's tax-hikes

2011-09-20T08:05:00.003-05:00

MCG could not agree more:

"The Buffett Rule"

2011-09-19T17:30:00.001-05:00

Today, President Obama finally announced his plan for deficit reduction. As should surprise no one, his solution is to raise taxes. Not just to raise taxes, but specifically on the "rich". He targets "millionaires" (those individuals making over $200,000), who have not been paying their fair share (the top 5% of wage earners in this country pay 60% of total taxes). Of course, we know in reality this "plan" will hit just about everyone, not just those falling into Obama's "millionaire" target. When liberals get tax-happy, watch out, because they'll slap a tax or a fee on just about anything that moves, or even if it doesn't.

Obama stated today that he would veto anything that came to his desk, that did not have serious revenue increases. Every time you hear the word "revenue" from the mouth of a liberal politician, that's code for tax increase on the rich. We all know that. But I started to contrast his stated goals (increased revenue), with the name for his plan (Buffett). Of course, Buffett, refers to Warren Buffett, who has famously advocated for tax increases on the "rich", demonstrating alleged "unfairness", with the example that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary pays. Without getting in too deep into the inherent fallacies of his comparison, I will tell you that it reminded me of the only way to increase Warren Buffett's taxes on income. To do that, the federal government MUST increase the capital gains tax, which currently stands at 15%.

Economists have clearly demonstrated that increases in the capital gains tax rates actually DECREASE revenue. There is little debate about this, and it was recently demonstrated in the 1980's, when increase of the cap gains rate to 28% caused a decrease in total revenue (see Paul Ryan's recent quote, "if you tax something more, you get less of it").

Don't forget that Obama just vowed to veto any legislation without "serious revenue" increases. If we know that an increase in the marginal rate lowers revenue, then does that mean Obama is vowing to veto legislation with marginal rate increases? Doubtful, but don't think Obama doesn't know the revenue impact of raising rates. He knows full well, but he just doesn't care. Below is an excerpt from a 2008 interview with Charlie Gibson (courtesy of DistributedRepublic.net).

MR. GIBSON: And in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased. The government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down. So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?
SENATOR OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I've said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness. We saw an article today which showed that the top 50 hedge fund managers made $29 billion last year -- $29 billion for 50 individuals. And part of what has happened is that those who are able to work the stock market and amass huge fortunes on capital gains are paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries. That's not fair. [. . . .]
MR. GIBSON: But history shows that when you drop the capital gains tax, the revenues go up.
SENATOR OBAMA: Well, that might happen or it might not. It depends on what's happening on Wall Street and how business is going.

What this all boils down to, is more redistribution, and more tax policy to dictate "fairness", as determined by Barack Obama. Once you see through the smoke and mirrors, this has nothing to do with deficit reduction or creating jobs, or turning the economy around. It's just the same old liberalism.

Maybe this is why Obama needs to stick with the teleprompter

2011-09-14T15:33:00.002-05:00

"if you love me, you gotta help me pass this bill"

Paul Ryan spells it out on real tax reform

2011-09-14T13:22:00.001-05:00

This fits perfectly with Sarah Palin's brilliant, recent indictment of "Crony Capitalism".

Glitch in Obamacare legislation gives states increased power to send this disaster back to Washington!

2011-09-14T12:54:00.001-05:00

Attack Watch: Silencing dissent, Obama style

2011-09-14T12:31:00.000-05:00

I wanted to report myself as a gag, but apparently Michelle Malkin beat me to it.

Here's the real link in case you want to report your neighbors to Obama: http://my.barackobama.com/page/signup/o2012-attackwatch-report-an-attack

You can also hashtag any of your tweets with #attackwatch to report your neighbors via twitter.

Perry and the Ponzis - Stanley Kurtz - National Review Online

2011-09-13T17:10:00.000-05:00

Perry and the Ponzis - Stanley Kurtz - National Review Online

Social Security has been known to be a Ponzi scheme for years.

Climate Change debate

2011-09-12T14:12:00.000-05:00

We keep hearing from Chris Matthews (MSNBC) and countless other media and politicians that the anthropogenic climate change debate is over and the science is settled. I've even recently heard Republican presidential contenders described as "not believing in science", if they haven't accepted human caused global warming as scientific fact.

Here is a cold, hard FACT: there's still plenty of debate in this area. Rick Perry was correct in stating that there are plenty of scientists out there who dispute the theories of those scientists saying that global warming is man caused. He is also absolutely right in stating that we shouldn't be making massive government-mandated, economy-destroying regulations based on this disputed theory. Yes, Governor Perry had trouble articulating this (I've actually volunteered to the campaign to help debate-prep him on this issue, but they have not yet responded), and he had trouble coming up with a name of a climate scientist who helps to shape his view on this issue. Hint: Roy Spencer, PhD is one name Governor Perry should be espousing.

Linked below are two articles disputing the theories, of whether or not clouds cause temperature changes (e.g. warming). One theory is from a scientist at my beloved alma mater, Texas A&M University, stating that clouds do NOT cause warming. Another is from Dr. Spencer, punching holes in that theory, with his own theory. This, my friends, is scientific debate, over two conflicting theories, on a topic in which there is little real understanding in the scientific community.....hence the reason that we should not be making government regulations at this time in history, based on one of the unproven theories. THE SCIENCE IS NOWHERE NEAR 'SETTLED'.

Dr. Andrew Dessler, Texas A&M Atmospheric Sciences Professor

Dr. Roy Spencer, Research Scientist, University of Alabama-Huntsville, Senior Scientist for Climate Studies, NASA Marshall Flight Center

Mark Levin comments on Mitt Romney

2011-09-12T08:13:00.000-05:00

I saw this posted on Mark Levin's Facebook page, in the form of a note. This is such an outstanding commentary on Mitt Romney, that I must repost it. I can't find it anywhere to link to but his Facebook notes, so my apologies, and all credit to Mark Levin (www.marklevinshow.com) for this below quoted note:

Mitt Romney and his defense of Big Government
by Mark Levin on Monday, September 12, 2011 at 8:00am
Romney is not only defending RomneyCare and the individual mandate, but he is sounding like the worse of the left-wing fear-mongers in defending the existing Social Security system which the Social Security trustees say is unsustainable. This is why I do not believe Romney can be relied on to roll back the massive federal Leviathan. He believes in it. Just as Paul Ryan came up with reforms to Medicare and Medicaid, Rick Perry -- who I have not endorsed, as I am not endorsing anyone right now -- is urging reforming Social Security. But now we have Romney acting like a liberal demagogue, seeking political opportunity by scaring seniors and lying about the program. I notice he has not been all that critical of Perry's poor record on illegal immigration. Why is that? Is Romney weak on illegal immigration as well?

Apparently Romney's Social Security fear-mongering has earned him Tim Pawlenty's useless endorsement, meaning we were right to be skeptical about Pawlenty's claim to be a fiscal conservative. And my good friend Michele Bachmann is walking a fine line, jumping on this Social Security issue in hopes of attracting support from seniors in Florida.

These Republicans need to understand that this is not the 1970's. We, the people, are demanding the truth about government and we are demanding real changes. We know that the entitlement programs are unfunded to the tune of over $60 trillion. And we are demanding that this be addressed. Romney has no plan for addressing any of it, that much is clear.

10 years

2011-09-11T10:28:00.000-05:00

I remember so vividly, this morning, 10 years ago. I was working from home that morning, after taking my 6-year old daughter to school, since my wife was ill. The phone rang, and it was my wife's friend, telling us the news. Emotions fluctuated from fear to rage, from love to patriotism, from sorrow to thoughts of vengeance. The intensity of those moments pushed my wife's illness to the background, as we considered whether we should go pick our daughter up from school. We knew that what had occurred was a turning point in history, and that things would never be the same. When we decided to leave her at school until dismissal, we pondered how we would possibly explain this unprovoked attack on innocents in our nation.

All day we watched the events unfold on television, in continued amazement. Our daughter now understood that evil men from the other side of the world had violently attacked us in the name of their god. We all began to understand about an organization called al Qaeda, and a terrible man named Osama Bin Laden. The faces of Mohammed Atta, and others became burned into our minds, along with, of course, the horrifying images of the aftermath in New York, Washington, and Shanksville.

As we learned about the heroic efforts of men and women in NYC, and in the skies over Shanksville, we felt hope. That evening, our daughter called us into the hallway, where she had been playing with her Lego table. She proudly announced to her mom and me, that she had "rebuilt the towers" for New York. We instantly knew that even at 6 years old, she understood the gravity of this event.

We have been through so much since that time. It brought us all closer together, nationally, as well as at home. It helped us as a nation, and personally, to appreciate our lives, and also to understand the fragility of our fortune, and the importance of vigilant protection of our precious families, and our precious freedom.

Today, my beautiful daughter is sixteen, and my precious wife has gone home to join our Lord in Heaven. So much has changed in these 10 years, but I pray we never forget.

ObaMath

2011-09-10T15:07:00.000-05:00

I don't know why I was surprised to see Owebama propose almost half a trillion dollars in new stimulus spending in his "American Jobs Bill" speech Thursday night. What a joke this guy has become. He is actually a caricature of himself now, and when you think he can't get any worse, he give a speech like Thursday's.

I did some quick math on his newest spending proposal:

Owebama proposed $450,000,000,000 in new spending Thursday night.
The 2010 census estimates there are about 112,000,000 households in the United States.
$450,000,000,000/112,000,000 = $4,017.86 PER HOUSEHOLD.

Over $4,000 per household! Are you kidding me?!? Granted, this pales in comparison to his last failed attempt to fix the economy with the same ridiculous strategy, but seriously, this guy needs to have his head examined.

We all know this will never pass, thanks to the House of Representatives, and we also should be certain that Owebama knows this too. He has to be just proposing something absurd, knowing the Republicans will reject it, and he can start up the cries of partisanship, gridlock, and the "party of no", in preparation for his reelection bid.

We know the media won't hold him accountable. Hell, they're editing transcripts of his speeches, in order to try and keep him from looking stupid.

PBS alters transcript to hide Obama gaffe

2011-09-10T09:29:00.000-05:00

Good catch by The American Thinker. Nothing shocking, of course....

PBS alters transcript to hide Obama gaffe

Rick Perry: Social Security Is A Ponzi Scheme

2011-09-08T08:54:00.000-05:00

Rick Perry: Social Security Is A Ponzi Scheme

Governor Perry is absolutely right on this. I have heard the "Social Security is a Ponzi scheme" comment a few times, and for some reason that made sense to me, but I wasn't exactly sure, so I looked it up. Here is the basic definition from Wikipedia:

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to separate investors, not from any actual profit earned by the organization, but from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors. The Ponzi scheme usually entices new investors by offering returns other investments cannot guarantee, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors to keep the scheme going.

The system is destined to collapse because the earnings, if any, are less than the payments to investors.

It's not hard to draw parallels between this definition, and a government sanctioned scheme that relies on today's contributions (from future beneficiaries) to pay today's beneficiaries, who invested years ago, into a program that is destined for collapse.

For Mitt Romney, or any other GOP candidate to try to cast Rick Perry as a guy who wants to "abolish social security" is nothing but a tactic to scare today's seniors, and is despicable.

UPDATE: another video added below....

How Money is Created and How It's Destroyed - FoxBusiness.com

2011-05-14T09:49:00.000-05:00

How Money is Created and How It's Destroyed - FoxBusiness.com

Newt Gingrich running for president

2011-05-11T16:59:00.000-05:00

Newt Gingrich running for president - Kendra Marr - POLITICO.com

Go Newt! Unless something changes dramatically, this is my pick for 2012

enjoy your virgins

2011-05-01T23:17:00.002-05:00

Let's raise taxes on the rich........hey, wait a minute!

2011-04-20T17:22:00.000-05:00

http://mercatus.org/publication/breakdown-federal-personal-income-taxes

crude vs. pump prices

2011-03-07T22:51:00.002-06:00

Spending

2011-02-14T21:23:00.001-06:00

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Income Tax Cut, JFK Hopes To Spur Economy 1962/8/13

2010-11-04T19:46:00.000-05:00

Rick Perry on Glenn Beck and on Fox & Friends today

2010-11-04T19:33:00.003-05:00

THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN BEER

2010-09-20T12:34:00.002-05:00

Received this today by email. It's been around for a few years, but definitely worth sharing, especially while Obama/Reid/Pelosi/Biden and their drones are out telling the "tax cuts for the rich" class warfare tales again.

THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN BEER

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100...If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this..
.
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the ten men would now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by a higher percentage. They decided to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, " but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar too. It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!"
"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back, when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible

W

2010-08-12T09:42:00.002-05:00

Welcoming home our troops at DFW Airport, August, 2010

Bigotry in the NAALCP?`

2010-07-19T18:44:00.000-05:00

Impossible......

Maroon Colored Glasses is becoming the 'Allen West Blog"

2010-07-05T23:48:00.001-05:00

I just can't help myself.

More from Lt. Col. West

2010-06-13T21:48:00.001-05:00

Allen West never disappoints.

Beware of unintended consequences....

2010-06-10T19:57:00.000-05:00

President Obama keeps telling us he has all these experts making analyses and recommendations, but he's ignoring them and making political choices instead, which will have harmful effects.

From Fox News:

White House report recommends oil drilling moratorium... Problem: authors of report actually say the opposite http://fxn.ws/cwrPyG

Democrats in Senate protect executive power in rejecting Murkowski Amendment

2010-06-10T17:09:00.001-05:00

Murkowski Amendment Fails, 47-53 -- By: Daniel Foster: A bipartisan effort to halt the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases.

http://bit.ly/cuQ4iA

"Resolution of Disapproval" of EPA CO2 regulations

2010-06-10T09:15:00.004-05:00

From Americans for Prosperity:

AFP Statement on Sen. Murkowski EPA Disapproval Resolution

Statement from AFP Vice President for Policy Phil Kerpen:

"Senator Murkowski's bipartisan resolution of disapproval is a huge step forward to restoring some sanity to economic policy by stopping the EPA's runaway bureaucracy. EPA's blueprint for its outrageous global warming power grab includes 18,000 pages of proposed regulations to control every aspect of the economy--everything that moves: planes, trains, buses, automobiles, tractors, lawn mowers, livestock--and lots of things that don't move, including commercial buildings and commercial kitchens that use natural gas as a cooking fuel.

"Sens. Lincoln (Ark.), Landrieu (La.), and Nelson (Neb.) deserve credit for crossing party lines and joining Murkowski's effort to reclaim control of economic policy for Congress. Under the Congressional Review Act it only takes 30 signatures to force a floor vote, so this will get voted on. It will only require 51 votes to prevail, and we encourage all senators to join this bipartisan effort not to outsource our economic future to bureaucrats at the EPA."

Read more: http://www.americansforprosperity.org/012210-afp-statement-sen-murkowski-epa-disapproval-resolution#ixzz0qSZ9kgXn

Senators Cornyn and Hutchison from Texas have already signed on in support of this resolution. If you live outside of Texas, contact your Senator NOW and ask them to support!

Senator Murkowski's full resolution is HERE in PDF.

Full writeup in The Hill.

/

I never knew there was another verse....

2010-06-09T17:06:00.000-05:00

....this just moved me to tears.

I can't get enough of this guy!

2010-06-04T15:21:00.003-05:00

Allen West make me happy

It's official: Lt. Col. Allen West is my new favorite politician

2010-06-02T18:44:00.004-05:00

She might be the most disingenuous person in the history of American politics

2010-06-02T07:55:00.003-05:00

Pelosi tries to demonstrate her strong Christian faith and guidance without actually mentioning "Jesus", "Christ", "Son of God", "Christianity", or anything else that wouldn't later be deniable. I think I heard "gospel" in there once.

Does she really believe she's "prepared to answer" when He comes again? How does Pelosi really thing she's "measured up"?

Obama still believes in his own divine power

2010-05-27T13:10:00.002-05:00

Listening to the Obama press conference today (his first in months), he
explained just how much he "cares" about the oil spill in the Gulf. I
almost drove off the road when I heard this:

"every morning when I'm shaving, Malia peeks her head in and asks, 'have
you plugged the hole yet daddy?'"

Does he really expect us to believe this made up anecdote? If so, then
he should be ashamed that his daughter thinks he has the power to stop an oil
leak on the bottom of the sea. Then again, he expected all of us to
believe that he could stop the rise of the oceans and heal the planet.
Malia is twelve years old. No way she's this naive. I think President Obama is the only one still living under this delusion of Messianic power.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon supports (and opposes) Arizona immigration law

2010-05-21T07:39:00.004-05:00

Exerpts from the official CNN transcript of Wolf Blitzer's interview with Mexican President Felipe Calderon:

BLITZER: So if people want to come from Guatemala or Honduras or El
Salvador or Nicaragua, they want to just come into Mexico, they can just walk
in?

CALDERON: No. They need to fulfill a form. They need to establish their
right name. We analyze if they have not a criminal precedent. And they coming
into Mexico. Actually...

BLITZER: Do Mexican police go around asking for papers of people they
suspect are illegal immigrants?

CALDERON: Of course. Of course, in the border, we are asking the people,
who are you?And if they explain...

BLITZER: At the border, I understand, when they come in.

CALDERON: Yes.

BLITZER: But once they're in...

CALDERON: But not -- but not in -- if -- once they are inside the -- inside
the country, what the Mexican police do is, of course, enforce the law. But by any means, immigration is a crime anymore in Mexico.

BLITZER: Immigration is not a crime, you're saying?

CALDERON: It's not a crime.

BLITZER: So in other words, if somebody sneaks in from Nicaragua or some
other country in Central America, through the southern border of Mexico, they wind up in Mexico, they can go get a job...

CALDERON: No, no.

BLITZER: They can work.

CALDERON: If -- if somebody do that without permission, we send back -- we send back them.

BLITZER: You find them and you send them back?

CALDERON: Yes. However, especially with the people of
Guatemala, we are providing a new system in which any single citizen from
Guatemala could be able to visit any single border (INAUDIBLE) in the south. And
even with all the requirements, he can or she can visit any parts of
Mexico.

"The police enforce the law" Find them and send them back"

Sounds very similar to Arizona Senate Bill 1070. In hearing Presidente Calderon's feelings about his own country's immigration policies, I can safely assume he has not read the Arizona law he so boldly opposes.

No comprendo

2010-04-28T10:51:00.007-05:00

Alabama Gubernatorial candidate Tim James is making a campaign issue out of Alabama's policy of giving the drivers license written exam in multiple languages. I am appalled by this.......

I am not appalled by making it a campaign issue. The reason for my horror is knowing that a person can get a drivers license without being able to read English road signs, warning signs, etc. Call me naive, but I was not aware this was possible. I guess I never really thought about it.

I don't know if Texas offers the drivers license exam in languages other than English, but I can promise that I'm going to find out, and letting Rick Perry know what I think about it either way.

Before you go off calling me racially insensitive or anything else, please understand that this issue goes beyond immigration and assimilation of immigrants into American culture. This is a safety issue. Giving someone legal permission to drive, knowing they cannot read the road signs and warning signs, is putting that person in danger, as well as anyone else near them on the road. This is irresponsible and is a major failure of a core competency of any state government that allows it to happen.

Hats off to Tim James for shedding light on this issue in Alabama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9ohsvJHkbY&feature=player_embedded
/

UPDATE:

I have done a little research, and found that Texas gives the drivers' exam in English and Spanish. I have lived in Texas for most of my life, and have never seen a road sign in Spanish, so right away, I see a problem.

Kudos to the 9 states who only give the exam in English: Arizona, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Oklahoma (changed last year to English only), Utah and Wyoming.

Biggest offenders (the leader and runner up here are no shock): California (32 languages), Massachusetts (25 languages) and Kentucky (23 languages). Kentucky surprised me.

California offers drivers exams in 32 languages, including: Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Cambodian, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hmong, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Rumanian, Russian, Samoan, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Tongan, Turkish, and Vietnamese.

Check these and other states HERE.
/

I love this guy

2010-04-25T13:12:00.002-05:00

Very insightful commentary from Alan West. We need this kind of bold leadership.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WReJgvOBXa8&feature=player_embedded

/

Stupak abandons constituents, unborn to join Pelosi and the undead

2010-03-22T07:22:00.007-05:00

The pieces were all in place yesterday for conservative victory.....a united Republican party, with "principled", "pro-life" Democrats joining in opposition to what probably amounts to the most disastrous piece of legislation in at least 50 years: the bill we know as "Obamacare".

As we should have expected, Rep. Bart Stupak(D-Mich.), who led the coalition of "pro-life" Democrats in opposition to this bill due to its providing of federal funds for elective abortions, cut a deal that would allow him and his cohorts to vote with their party, and hence vote AGAINST their constituents, including those still in the womb. The "deal" is basically that Obama issued an executive order ensuring that no federal funding will go to pay for abortion under the health reform plans. In addition, Stupak got to state his concerns about abortion funding in the bill on the House floor during the debate.

This is a complete charade.......a total joke. First of all, everyone knows that an executive order does nothing in this situation, and can be rescinded by Obama or any other president on a whim. Secondly, and more importantly, this represents something that disgusts me today in congressional politics. Democrats are perfectly aware that most of their constituents did not want this bill passed into law, and many individual congressmen knew that going on record with a vote for this legislation would jeopardize or ruin their chances at reelection. So what happens from there is a dance that is done for the public to see, which allows the congressman to appear to be in opposition, then finally seeing the light to change his position at the last minute. He is then presented as "courageous" or "heroic".

Then there is the dance during the actual casting of the votes. If you've ever watched votes cast on the House floor on C-Span, you may notice that many times there are many "holdouts". There's a column on the far right that shows votes not cast. How, after 15 minutes, of voting, could there be someone who hasn't voted. We know they have already decided. These are the congressmen who are waiting. They are waiting for the outcome to be decided, so that they can't be labeled as having cast "the deciding vote". Many times it's even worse, and they are waiting for the outcome to be decided, so they can safely cast a vote in opposition, to appear to be voting the will of their constituency. This timing is predetermined, and is an outright deceit of the public. These legislators, who are representing districts in which they would be crucified for voting with the party, are strategically allowed to hold out til the end. They'll vote with the party if they must, but once the deciding vote has been cast, they can vote in a way that protects them during election time.

Stupak and his "pro-life" Democrats are the worst of this kind. They have run as "pro-life", and their constituency expects them to vote that way. If they don't, they will be voted out of office and they know it. Therefore, they put on a massive, weeks-long charade in defense of the unborn, only to execute an orchestrated "cave-in" at the 11th hour, abandoning the unborn, and joining Pelosi and the undead in passage of what will prove to be a job-killing, economy-killing, baby-killing bill. Appropriately, Bart Stupak was stripped of a "Defender of Life Award" he was to receive on Wednesday night. I'm guessing he'll be stripped of another title come November.
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Reagan vs. Obama debate

2010-03-09T19:36:00.000-06:00

1 mile kill shot

2010-02-20T15:29:00.001-06:00

impressive!

token blog post

2010-02-20T09:19:00.002-06:00

I literally have NOTHING to talk about today, so I'll just type whatever comes to mind. It's 9:20 am, and my wife and daughter are still asleep. I was kicked out of my own bed last night, because we had gone to see Shutter Island.....my daughter was scared and wanted to sleep with mom, so I was relegated to her room where I slept with 2 of the dogs. The cat woke me up at 7 am.

I've had a cup of coffee, and haven't even read the paper yet. Just been poking around on Facebook and enjoying the SILENCE.

My wife is having this cool treatment now called "myofascial release". It seems to be a Godsend, and is helping her tremendously. We are trying to figure out a way to get her some intensive therapy to accelerate her progress.

The global warming apocalyptos continue to find themselves on an ever sinking ship, and this makes me very happy. I have always known this to be a complete scam, and now it's being exposed for just that. Just in time to hopefully save us from destructive cap/trade legislation. Of course, our brilliant president has doubled down on his climate change position, just like he did with his failed healthcare efforts. He is so beholden to his left-wing base that he can't budge, even when the facts are crystal clear that the "science" was all based on fraud. What a joke this Obama has become, which is no surprise to me. American hero Dick Cheney this week predicted Obama would be a one-term president, and I agree.

Caught up with an old friend from college this week on Facebook, and had lots of laughs. Probably will play some tennis this afternoon, then going to Parker, Texas tonight to meet up with some more old friends from college. Should be a fun evening of reliving some great memories.

Super Bowl Sunday, 1981

2010-02-07T22:30:00.004-06:00

http://www.star-telegram.com/arlington_news/story/1947922.html

January 25th, 1981 is permanently embedded in my mind. When I watched the video linked above, everything about that day came roaring back.

I was 11 years old, and had been living in the same neighborhood, with the same kids for most of my life in South Arlington, Texas. One of those neighborhood friends was Heather. She was one of my first friends in Texas. My first dog was even the brother of her dog. I think they had been picked up as strays. Heather's family had recently moved out of the neighborhood, to a house on some land, with stables for their horses. There was a trail through their land that led back to our neighborhood.

On January 25th, 1981...it was the day of the Super Bowl (Eagles/Raiders), my dad took me out for a ride on his motorcycle. After about 15-20 minutes, we were down near that trail that led to Heather's house. It was Heather's birthday, and my dad asked if I wanted to ride down that trail to her house. We decided instead to go home and watch the Super Bowl.

Later that day, we heard of the tragedy. Heather's older brother Trey, and Kevin Curnutt (profiled in the video above), were riding their dirtbikes home from Rush Creek Christian Church, down that same trail, and the man that lived in the home next to the trail ambushed them with a shotgun from behind a shed. I never knew Kevin well, but I had known Trey for most of my life. Trey did not survive. For 29 years, I cannot even think of January 25th without thinking of Heather, and what emotion she must have every year on her birthday, what must cross her mind when she hears the words "happy birthday", every January 25th. I have wondered ever since what would have happened if my dad and I had decided to drive down that trail to wish Heather a happy birthday.

Ronald Reagan, Christmas, 1981

2009-12-22T21:39:00.000-06:00

Ronald Reagan, December 23, 1981, addressed the nation with a message about the meaning of Christmas, and also about the oppression of the people of Poland......

I cannot help but ponder why, after 28 years, after Poland has become a free nation, a capitalist democracy, where they can freely trumpet their faith, the United States government has begun a slide towards state control, and is becoming a government that denies our Christian beginnings.

At Christmas time, every home takes on a special beauty, a special warmth, and that's certainly true of the White House, where so many famous Americans have spent their Christmases over the years. This fine old home, the people's house, has seen so much, been so much a part of all our lives and history. It's been humbling and inspiring for Nancy and me to be spending our first Christmas in this place.

We've lived here as your tenants for almost a year now, and what a year it's been. As a people we've been through quite a lot—moments of joy, of tragedy, and of real achievement—moments that I believe have brought us all closer together. G. K. Chesterton once said that the world would never starve for wonders, but only for the want of wonder.

At this special time of year, we all renew our sense of wonder in recalling the story of the first Christmas in Bethlehem, nearly 2,000 year ago.

Some celebrate Christmas as the birthday of a great and good philosopher and teacher. Others of us believe in the divinity of the child born in Bethlehem, that he was and is the promised Prince of Peace. Yes, we've questioned why he who could perform miracles chose to come among us as a helpless babe, but maybe that was his first miracle, his first great lesson that we should learn to care for one another.

Tonight, in millions of American homes, the glow of the Christmas tree is a reflection of the love Jesus taught us. Like the shepherds and wise men of that first Christmas, we Americans have always tried to follow a higher light, a star, if you will. At lonely campfire vigils along the frontier, in the darkest days of the Great Depression, through war and peace, the twin beacons of faith and freedom have brightened the American sky. At times our footsteps may have faltered, but trusting in God's help, we've never lost our way.

Just across the way from the White House stand the two great emblems of the holiday season: a Menorah, symbolizing the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, and the National Christmas Tree, a beautiful towering blue spruce from Pennsylvania. Like the National Christmas Tree, our country is a living, growing thing planted in rich American soil. Only our devoted care can bring it to full flower. So, let this holiday season be for us a time of rededication.

Even as we rejoice, however, let us remember that for some Americans, this will not be as happy a Christmas as it should be. I know a little of what they feel. I remember one Christmas Eve during the Great Depression, my father opening what he thought was a Christmas greeting. It was a notice that he no longer had a job.

Over the past year, we've begun the long, hard work of economic recovery. Our goal is an America in which every citizen who needs and wants a job can get a job. Our program for recovery has only been in place for 12 weeks now, but it is beginning to work. With your help and prayers, it will succeed. We're winning the battle against inflation, runaway government spending and taxation, and that victory will mean more economic growth, more jobs, and more opportunity for all Americans.

A few months before he took up residence in this house, one of my predecessors, John Kennedy, tried to sum up the temper of the times with a quote from an author closely tied to Christmas, Charles Dickens. We were living, he said, in the best of times and the worst of times. Well, in some ways that's even more true today. The world is full of peril, as well as promise. Too many of its people, even now, live in the shadow of want and tyranny.

As I speak to you tonight, the fate of a proud and ancient nation hangs in the balance. For a thousand years, Christmas has been celebrated in Poland, a land of deep religious faith, but this Christmas brings little joy to the courageous Polish people. They have been betrayed by their own government.

The men who rule them and their totalitarian allies fear the very freedom that the Polish people cherish. They have answered the stirrings of liberty with brute force, killings, mass arrests, and the setting up of concentration camps. Lech Walesa and other Solidarity leaders are imprisoned, their fate unknown. Factories, mines, universities, and homes have been assaulted.

The Polish Government has trampled underfoot solemn commitments to the UN Charter and the Helsinki accords. It has even broken the Gdansk agreement of. August 1980, by which the Polish Government recognized the basic right of its people to form free trade unions and to strike.

The tragic events now occurring in Poland, almost 2 years to the day after the Soviet invasion Of Afghanistan, have been precipitated by public and secret pressure from the Soviet Union. It is no coincidence that Soviet Marshal Kulikov, chief of the Warsaw Pact forces, and other senior Red Army officers were in Poland while these outrages were being initiated. And it is no coincidence that the martial law proclamations imposed in December by the Polish Government were being printed in the Soviet Union in September.

The target of this depression [repression] is the Solidarity Movement, but in attacking Solidarity its enemies attack an entire people. Ten million of Poland's 36 million citizens are members of Solidarity. Taken together with their families, they account for the overwhelming majority of the Polish nation. By persecuting Solidarity the Polish Government wages war against its own people.

I urge the Polish Government and its allies to consider the consequences of their actions. How can they possibly justify using naked force to crush a people who ask for nothing more than the right to lead their own lives in freedom and dignity? Brute force may intimidate, but it cannot form the basis of an enduring society, and the ailing Polish economy cannot be rebuilt with terror tactics.

Poland needs cooperation between its government and its people, not military oppression. If the Polish Government will honor the commitments it has made to human rights in documents like the Gdansk agreement, we in America will gladly do our share to help the shattered Polish economy, just as we helped the countries of Europe after both World Wars.

It's ironic that we offered, and Poland expressed interest in accepting, our help after World War II. The Soviet Union intervened then and refused to allow such help to Poland. But if the forces of tyranny in Poland, and those who incite them from without, do not relent, they should prepare themselves for serious consequences. Already, throughout the Free World, citizens have publicly demonstrated their support for the Polish people. Our government, and those of our allies, have expressed moral revulsion at the police state tactics of Poland's oppressors. The Church has also spoken out, in spite of threats and intimidation. But our reaction cannot stop there.

I want emphatically to state tonight that if the outrages in Poland do not cease, we cannot and will not conduct "business as usual" with the perpetrators and those who aid and abet them. Make no mistake, their crime will cost them dearly in their future dealings with America 'and free peoples everywhere. I do not make this statement lightly or without serious reflection.

We have been measured and deliberate in our reaction to the tragic events in Poland. We have not acted in haste, and the steps I will outline tonight and others we may take in the days ahead are firm, just, and reasonable.

In order to aid the suffering Polish people during this critical period, we will continue the shipment of food through private humanitarian channels, but only so long as we know that the Polish people themselves receive the food. The neighboring country of Austria has opened her doors to refugees from Poland. I have therefore directed that American assistance, including supplies of basic foodstuffs, be offered to aid the Austrians in providing for these refugees.

But to underscore our fundamental opposition to the repressive actions taken by the Polish Government against its own people, the administration has suspended all government-sponsored shipments of agricultural and dairy' products to the Polish Government. This suspension will remain in force until absolute assurances are received that distribution of these products is monitored and guaranteed by independent agencies. We must be sure that every bit of food provided by America goes to the Polish people, not to their oppressors.

The United States is taking immediate action to suspend major elements of our economic relationships with the Polish Government. We have halted the renewal of the Export-Import Bank's line of export credit insurance to the Polish Government. We will suspend Polish civil aviation privileges in the United States. We are suspending the right of Poland's fishing fleet to operate in American waters. And we're proposing to our allies the further restriction of high technology exports to Poland.

These actions are not directed against the Polish people. They are a warning to the Government of Poland that free men cannot and will not stand idly by in the face of brutal repression. To underscore this point, I've written a letter to General Jaruzelski, head of the Polish Government. In it, I outlined the steps we're taking and warned of the serious consequences if the Polish Government continues to use violence against its populace. I've urged him to free those in arbitrary detention, to lift martial law, and to restore the internationally recognized rights of the Polish people to free speech and association.

The Soviet Union, through its threats and pressures, deserves a major share of blame for the developments in Poland. So, I have also sent a letter to President Brezhnev urging him to permit the restoration of basic human rights in Poland provided for in the Helsinki Final Act. In it, I informed him that if this repression continues, the United States will have no choice but to take further concrete political and economic measures affecting our relationship.

When 19th century Polish patriots rose against foreign oppressors, their rallying cry was, "For our freedom and yours." Well, that motto still rings true in our time. There is a spirit of solidarity abroad in the world tonight that no physical force can crush. It crosses national boundaries and enters into the hearts of men and women everywhere. In factories, farms, and schools, in cities and towns around the globe, we the people of the Free World stand as one with our Polish brothers and sisters. Their cause is ours, and our prayers and hopes go out to them this Christmas.

Yesterday, I met in this very room with Romuald Spasowski, the distinguished former Polish Ambassador who has sought asylum in our country in protest of the suppression of his native land. He told me that one of the ways the Polish people have demonstrated their solidarity in the face of martial law is by placing lighted candles in their windows to show that the light of liberty still glows in their hearts.

Ambassador Spasowski requested that on Christmas Eve a lighted candle will burn in the White House window as a small but certain beacon of our solidarity with the Polish people. I urge all of you to do the same tomorrow night, on Christmas Eve, as a personal statement of your commitment to the steps we're taking to support the brave people of Poland in their time of troubles.

Once, earlier in this century, an evil influence threatened that the lights were going out all over the world. Let the light of millions of candles in American homes give notice that the light of freedom is not going to be extinguished. We are blessed with a freedom and abundance denied to so many. Let those candles remind us that these blessings bring with them a solid obligation, an obligation to the God who guides us, an obligation to the heritage of liberty and dignity handed down to us by our forefathers and an obligation to the children of the world, whose future will be shaped by the way we live our lives today.

Christmas means so much because of one special child. But Christmas also reminds us that all children are special, that they are gifts from God, gifts beyond price that mean more than any presents money can buy. In their love and laughter, in our hopes for their future lies the true meaning of Christmas.

So, in a spirit of gratitude for what we've been able to achieve together over the past year and looking forward to all that we hope to achieve together in the years ahead, Nancy and I want to wish you all the best of holiday seasons. As Charles Dickens, whom I quoted a few moments ago, said so well in "A Christmas Carol," "God bless us, every one."
Good night.

Lieutenant Colonel Allen West

2009-12-15T08:30:00.003-06:00

What can I say? This guy gets it.

http://allenwestforcongress.com

How to fix healthcare with the FREE MARKET

2009-12-02T17:03:00.003-06:00

"My guiding principle...is and always has been, that consumers do better when there's choice and competition. That's how the market works." --President Barack Obama

Mr. President, the foundation for your solution is in the video below....

I'm back

2009-12-02T06:29:00.000-06:00

I took a month off from blogging. While I was gone, the following things happened, off the top of my head:

House passed government healthcare bill
Senate passed their own initial healthcare bill
Obama dithered for another month, before finally committing 30K more troops to Afghanistan (last night)
Climate-gate: climate scientists caught in major fraud in manipulating climate data to support their hypotheses.
T.C.U. completed a 12-0 undefeated season, but will be denied an opportunity to play for national championship

Glad to be back.
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61 Years later, they're still trying to sell us "ISM"....

2009-11-02T19:55:00.001-06:00

Investors.com - Cap-And-Trade For Babies?

2009-10-20T21:42:00.003-05:00

Investors.com - Cap-And-Trade For Babies?

This is not a joke. There is now a "fringe" movement to issue so-called carbon credits as an incentive to curb childbirth, which is now a hazard to the environment.

Revkin volunteered that in allocating carbon credits as part of any cap-and-trade scheme, "if you can measurably somehow divert fertility rate, say toward accelerating decline in a place with a high fertility rate, shouldn't there be a carbon value to that?"
He went on to say that "probably the single most concrete and substantive thing an American, young American, could do to lower our carbon footprint is not turning off the light or driving a Prius, it's having fewer kids, having fewer children."

"More children equal more carbon dioxide emissions," Rivkin has blogged, wondering "whether this means we'll soon see a market in baby-avoidance carbon credits similar to efforts to sell CO2 credits for avoiding deforestation." Save the trees, not the children.

If there can be this kind of incentive to reduce childbirth, could we take it one step further, and issue carbon credit bonuses for each aborted fetus? They could even offer one time, lump sum sterilization carbon credits. This would all certainly fit the abortion agenda for the same ideological crowd, and would be a way to supplement the child tax credit. Get your tubes tied = government handout; get pregnant and have baby = government handout; get pregnant and have abortion = government handout. What better way to line voters up to exercise their "reproductive freedom"? Sound crazy? It used to sound crazy that the government would try to influence our choice in light bulbs and automobiles. It used to sound crazy that the government would own General Motors, have a "Pay Czar", and provide tax "refunds" to those who had paid no taxes. Still sound crazy?

Here's an idea they may not like so much:

How about carbon credits for hunters? It makes sense, really. Think about a deer or an elk, for example. All a deer or elk does for it's entire lifetime is eat grass and foliage, which would have taken "dangerous" CO2 out of the atmosphere, and then "emit" methane flatulence, another dangerous greenhouse gas. Oh, they also create more deer/elk through uncontrolled reproduction, of course exacerbating this environmental hazard. Hunting deer and elk provides safe haven for grass and vegetation to soak up CO2 without risk of being eaten, and cuts dangerous emissions from these wild beasts. Think of the environmental benefit provided by these hunters, thinning the herds of these polluting, environmentally insensitive animals, and the hunters provide this service to the Mother Earth for FREE. The least we could do is issue them some carbon credits.

The danger of Obama's dithering

2009-10-20T21:04:00.001-05:00

The danger of Obama's dithering -- latimes.com

Hard to say it better than John Bolton.
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"Oba Mao"

2009-10-19T13:13:00.002-05:00

Looks like the Chinese understand our dear leader pretty well.....

"Oba Mao" items popular with foreign tourists in Beijing

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MSNBC's Chris Matthews is not very smart

2009-10-17T15:18:00.003-05:00

Meet Chris Matthews: "Journalist"

This is an interview with Phillip Dennis from the Dallas Tea Party, in which Matthews comes out of the gates trying to paint Mr. Dennis to be some kind of idiotic secessionist redneck from Texas. He challenges Mr. Dennis on "knowing history" about Hoover and the depression ("well you know history sir"), then when Dennis demonstrates his thorough knowledge of history--that FDR policy likely EXTENDED the Great Depression by 7 years--all Matthews could do was laugh, and fall back on the fact that FDR was reelected, and that it "wasn't believed at the time".

Matthews also condemned the Bush stimulus while simultaneously defending the Obama stimulus. (Mr. Dennis of course condemned both.) In typical lib fashion, Matthews also equates opposition to Obama's action to support of "doing nothing". Clearly, Mr. Dennis had an alternative proposal, of tax cuts and reduced spending, but Matthews didn't want to hear about that, just continually reducing the ideas to "a big tax cut and lots of speeches", and "doing nothing".

Liberals just don't know what to do when confronted with facts. Everyone knows (not everyone accepts) that the Great Depression was ended by WWII, NOT by FDR's Keynesian economic policy.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Krauthammer spells it out perfectly on Afghanistan

2009-10-09T23:28:00.002-05:00

Krauthammer asks of Obama "Does anything he says remain operative beyond the fading of the audience applause?"

Answer: NO

Young Hamlet's Agony

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my response to the White House on Healthcare reform inquiry

2009-10-07T10:21:00.002-05:00

I received an email today (via LinkedIn) soliciting opinion on Healthcare reform proposals, directly back to Office of Health Reform Director and Counselor to the President Nancy-Ann DeParle. I guess I got this email, since my LinkedIn profile lists me as working in the healthcare industry, which I do, in my employment with a medical device innovator/manufacturer. It may have been intended to seek input from medical professionals only, but I gave my input anyway.

The context of the question was basically this. Watch this video, and tell us if you agree with these doctors who support Obamacare. They also asked "What is the biggest health care problem in your state?" Here was my response:

my experience is quite different from the doctors on the video, and I do not think the proposals currently being discussed by the White House and Congress will solve the problems faced by our healthcare system.

We first should differentiate between the healthcare payor system and MEDICINE. Medicine today in the United States is the best in the world, and in history. Our healthcare PAYOR system is what needs reform, to improve access, choice and competition. Adding new layers of government and bureaucracy will make things worse, not better.

I am happy with my health insurance coverage (Anthem Blue Cross-California), but it is very expensive, and my premiums have gone up. I have employer based coverage, through my company which is based in California, but I live in Texas. I was certain I could get a better deal buying coverage on my own, and began shopping for a plan, including taking a look at high-deductible/catastrophic coverage, combined with an HSA. Unfortunately, even though I found much lower prices for adequate coverage, they were made unaffordable by the federal tax system, which makes health insurance premiums tax deductible only if purchased through my employer. This is a scenario where the federal government is currently LIMITING choice and competition through taxation. I would like to see this fixed in any proposed healthcare reform.

Additionally, it became obvious that my options were limited to what was available in my state. Current regulations prohibit a NATIONAL market for health insurance. This is another example of government currently LIMITING choice and competition. I would like to see this fixed in any proposed healthcare reform.

Professionally, I am very concerned about the federal government having increased involvement in setting fees for services. We already see this with Medicare, which causes a shifting of cost-burden to private insurance companies, driving up premiums for private insurance. As more Americans shift to a public "option", more services/procedures will fall under government fixed fee schedules, which will continue to drive up cost of private insurance, eventually eliminating private health insurance as a viable business model. Government setting prices/fees will quickly affect our medical technology/pharmaceutical innovators, as they will not have a true marketplace in which to market medical innovations. Medical breakthoughs will come to a grinding halt in this country, as the potential reward will be too small to take the risk of investing the necessary capital. This will be a disaster for the continued advancement of MEDICINE in the United States.

Many physicians I work with are already contemplating early retirement, if the plans by the White House are enacted. We need patient, consumer, and physician friendly reform, which should also include tort reform. There is no need to "test" this in certain areas, as the President has suggested. Tort reform has already been successfully implemented in Texas and other states, and should be adopted immediately on a national level. There is no reasonable position that be taken in support of the current medical/legal environment in this country.

I am all for reform, but I am against the proposals being made by the White House and Congress. I am for the right kind of reform, as I have outlined above, and still waiting for it to show up in proposed legislation.

Sincerely,
Joseph D. Terry

Links:

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/miarticle.htm?id=3083

SNL Obama parody

2009-10-06T16:04:00.001-05:00

The Vapor Bill – The Left’s Plan For A Filibuster Free Public Option

2009-10-06T11:16:00.001-05:00

From The Heritage Foundation.......(Facebook note)

The Vapor Bill – The Left’s Plan For A Filibuster Free Public Option

Today (10/6/09) at 8:24am

President Barack Obama’s push for a sweeping health care overhaul is inching toward a full consideration by the Senate and we have learned the left’s plan to add the public option to the Vapor Bill and avoid a filibuster. Congressional Quarterly reported in “Health Bill Nears Tricky End Game” that there is a way for Senate Leaders to start debate on the bill, then add the public option later with a mere simple majority.

Here is the scenario after the Senate Finance Committee finishes work on their part of the Vapor Bill (remember that that Senate Finance Committee has been debating and amending a description of legislation, not actual legislation) Senator Harry Reid will have the task of merging the Senate HELP Committee Bill and the Senate Finance Committee description of legislation being completed later this week. As the AP reported yesterday, this is no easy task.

Senator Reid will write the Vapor Bill with either no public option or one that goes into effect after the insurance industry does not meet certain benchmarks. This is called the public option “trigger.” Senator Reid will have to have a product that would keep together a 60 vote majority to prevent a filibuster of the bill and many health care vote counters don’t see 60 votes supporting proceeding to an Obamacare bill containing an expensive pubic option. Senator and the American public will finally get to see the Vapor Bill and the starting point for an Obamacare debate in the Senate when Senator Reid releases his draft Amendment, that he intends on adding to a House passed tax bill.

To get the measure on the floor, Senator Reid will have to use an unusual procedure. As The Foundry has reported last week, “Senator Reid will have to move to proceed to a House passed tax measure to avoid a “Blue Slip” problem. The term blue slip describes the procedure the House uses to stop the Senate from originating a tax bill. The Constitution states “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives.” It is the most likely that the Reid will move to proceed to H.R. 1664 The AIG Bonus Bill.

A Senator who wants to add a public option to the bill will offer an amendment to the legislation and then it will be called up for consideration. Reid will then, purposely not take any action on that Amendment, and he will file cloture on the legislation. The cloture vote will be a 60 vote threshold to end debate on a bill that does not contain the public option. After cloture is invoked, the public option, and any other very controversial matters that are deemed “Germane to the bill,” can be added to the bill with a simple majority. Translated into English that means that many moderates in the Senate can vote for cloture on Obamacare without the public option and it can be added after a filibuster is ended.

It is possible to get a public option added to the Vapor Bill, a bill the American people and most Senators, have yet to see, with a simple majority.

Time to try the "Rush Stimulus Plan"

2009-10-05T16:09:00.001-05:00

Rush proposed this plan in the Wall Street Journal back in January. Now that the Obama stimulus plan has failed, it's time to try the Rush Plan!

Rush Limbaugh: My Bipartisan Stimulus - WSJ.com

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ACORN: Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?

2009-10-04T22:18:00.001-05:00

This made me laugh

ACORN: Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?

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Here's an idea to reduce healthcare costs....

2009-09-23T11:51:00.003-05:00

......let's drive up the cost of medical devices with a new tax.

Condoms, contact lenses shielded from tax

The Innovation Tax

Supposedly the Senate’s version of ObamaCare was written by Finance Chairman Max Baucus, but we’re beginning to wonder if the true authors were Abbott and Costello. The vaudeville logic of the plan is that Congress will tax health care to subsidize people to buy health care that new taxes and regulation make more expensive.

Even tax-happy John Kerry opposes this ridiculous proposal. Democrats are so desperate to fund this outrageous plan, that it could still pass. They live in a dreamworld where taxes only affect those that they tax.

(disclosure: I work in the medical devices industry, and would be severely affected by any such legislation)
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Obama administration gets serious about implementing "Nanny State"

2009-09-22T05:59:00.000-05:00

This is not a joke. Obama Energy Secretary Steven Chu made the following statement...

“The American public…just like your teenage kids, aren’t acting in a way that they should act,” Dr. Chu said. “The American public has to really understand in their core how important this issue is.”

TRANSLATION: the American public is stupid, and need to get in line with our environmental agenda. They won't change their ways without passage of laws and regulations to force compliance, which we will gladly deliver.

They are actually sending the EPA on a nationwide tour to "educate" schoolkids about "stopping global warming".

The Environmental Protection Agency is focusing on real children. Partnering with the Parent Teacher Organization, the agency earlier this month launched a cross-country tour of 6,000 schools to teach students about climate change and energy efficiency.
“We’re showing people across the country how energy efficiency can be part of what they do every day,” said EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. “Confronting climate change, saving money on our utility bills, and reducing our use of heavily-polluting energy can be as easy as making a few small changes.”

The Obama speech to schoolkids was not a big deal. This, on the other hand, is intended through the schools to indoctrinate children to "Global Warming" theories, as if they are scientific fact, in order to sell their long-term agenda.

quit comparing mandated health insurance to mandated auto insurance!

2009-09-20T22:15:00.002-05:00

Today Obama again compared mandated health insurance to mandated auto insurance, in defense of his health proposals. I am so tired of politicians and pundits trying to use this false analogy to sell their proposals.

Auto insurance mandates are state mandates for LIABILITY insurance, not collision coverage. The mandate is that you have insurance coverage for damage you may cause to SOMEONE ELSE'S PROPERTY in an auto accident. States require this coverage for you to have the priviledge of driving your vehicle on roads.

There is absolutely no parallel that can be drawn to a federal mandate for a private citizen to buy health insurance. The federal government requiring a citizen to buy low deductible collision coverage would be a more accurate analogy, but I am not aware of any state that has that requirement.

Obama's solution to "reform" analyzed

2009-09-17T13:17:00.003-05:00

This article in Investors Business Daily gives the best analysis I have seen for "Obama-care", including the excerpt below, which does a great job of explaining the numbers on the "46 million uninsured" in America.

Actually, of the 46 million people the census estimates don't have insurance, some 20 million have incomes above average and could afford to buy it, according to a study by former Congressional Budget Office Director June O'Neill.

Of the remaining 26 million uninsured, an estimated 13.7 million are poor. They are eligible for Medicaid — the state health care programs for the poor. But many, too, are illegals — about 8 million.

Though they're eligible, research from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association suggests as many as 14 million uninsured Americans qualify for public coverage, but don't enroll. And as many as 6 million are enrolled, but don't report it to the government, according to the National Center for Policy Analysis.

That leaves about 5 million people with no care.

By the way, according to the Census Bureau, America now has 37 million people in poverty. But Medicaid enrollment covers 55 million people — at a cost of $350 billion a year.

Based on this, no one should be without care. Which leads us to wonder: Is nationalizing our health care system really necessary to take care of people who already have care available to them?

I attempted HERE to give an analysis of the "uninsured", but the above text does a much better job.

The entire article is a great read and provides some much needed clarity.

I have renewed hope

2009-09-17T10:13:00.002-05:00

Jon Stewart asks the right questions

2009-09-16T17:51:00.001-05:00

The Audacity of Hos

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Healthcare Protests

Liberal Hypocrisy

2009-09-11T12:54:00.004-05:00

Liberals are outraged at the disrespect to the office of the President shown when Joe Wilson shouted "you lie" at Wednesday night's Obama speech to a joint session of congress.

It was inappropriate and disrespectful, but hardly unique to republicans or to treatment of Obama, as suggested by Whoopi Goldberg on the View:

He was, you know, I was appalled, really, because what I've been feeling the last couple of months is that this disrespect, which started with I'm not going to have my kid listen to your State of the Child address has now evolved into this free -- incredibly disrespectful -- Now as much as I didn’t like Mr. Bush and as many jokes as I made, I cannot remember anyone, any congressman, senator, anywhere, sitting in that chamber while the president was speaking behaving like those gentlemen and folks behaved.

Democrats made disrespecting the office of the President an art form during the Bush administration.

The ladies on the view also made reference to the disrespect shown by Eric Cantor by using his Blackberry during the speech. I am only guessing, but it's quite likely that Eric Cantor was "tweeting" during the speech, as has become common from the House floor by congressman from both parties. Get with the times ladies..
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Representative Mike Rogers (R) Michigan

2009-09-01T18:00:00.001-05:00

Profound and wise words from this Michigan Republican addressing the U.S. House of Representatives in July...

brilliant

Cash for Clunkers.....what a bargain

2009-09-01T17:53:00.001-05:00

Got this from a friend at work. Thought it was insightful and worth posting.....

Clunkers...

I guess I must be on the wrong page…

• A vehicle at 15 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 800 gallons a year of gasoline.
• A vehicle at 25 mpg and 12,000 miles per year uses 480 gallons a year.
• So, the average clunker transaction will reduce US gasoline consumption by 320 gallons per year.
• They claim 700,000 vehicles – so that’s 224 million gallons / year.
• That equates to a bit over 5 million barrels of oil.
• 5 million barrels of oil is about ¼ of one day’s US consumption.
• And, 5 million barrels of oil costs about $350 million dollars at $75/bbl.
• So, we all contributed to spending $3 billion to save $350 million. How good a deal was that???

Dick Cheney is an American Hero

2009-08-25T13:28:00.003-05:00

Cheney Statement on CIA Documents/Investigation

Former Vice President Dick Cheney gave The Weekly Standard a statement Monday night about the CIA documents and the coming Justice Department investigation.

The documents released Monday clearly demonstrate that the individuals subjected to Enhanced Interrogation Techniques provided the bulk of intelligence we gained about al Qaeda. This intelligence saved lives and prevented terrorist attacks. These detainees also, according to the documents, played a role in nearly every capture of al Qaeda members and associates since 2002. The activities of the CIA in carrying out the policies of the Bush Administration were directly responsible for defeating all efforts by al Qaeda to launch further mass casualty attacks against the United States. The people involved deserve our gratitude. They do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions. President Obama’s decision to allow the Justice Department to investigate and possibly prosecute CIA personnel, and his decision to remove authority for interrogation from the CIA to the White House, serves as a reminder, if any were needed, of why so many Americans have doubts about this Administration’s ability to be responsible for our nation’s security.

Dick Cheney is an American hero, for speaking out about this, and for his brave leadership in the face of years politically motivated attacks against him.

UPDATE: just a few days later, on August 30, his interview with Chris Wallace was aired on Fox News Sunday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orPcTO7m4kE

God bless you Dick Cheney!
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"The Liberal Two-Step"

2009-08-23T21:46:00.002-05:00

I just love Ann Coulter. Sure, she's over the top, and is never delicate in her presentation of the facts, but admit it or not, she's usually right.

In this week's column, Ann uses a term that makes me laugh. I'm not sure this is her first use of this term, or if she came up with it on her own, but it's funny, and like most things funny, it's accurate.

The Liberal Two-Step: First screw something up, then claim that it's screwed up because there's not enough government oversight (it's the free market run wild!), and then step in and really screw it up in the name of "reform."
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Global warming alarmists refuse to accept accurate data

2009-08-23T13:05:00.007-05:00

A syndicated article by Robert S. Boyd was widely circulated this week, linked from the Drudge Report, and printed in newspapers across the nation. The article demonstrates how desperate climate change alarmists are to keep their global warming scare campaign alive. In his article, Drop in Global Temperatures Fuels Global Warming Debate, Mr. Boyd makes reference to the "recent peak" in global temperature in 1998. This is a clear reference to the widely touted notion that 1998 was the "hottest year on record", which is commonly used by Al Gore and others to support the cause of global warming and the associated impending doom.

The otherwise balanced article correctly points out that the Earth's temperatures have been cooling since 1998, but still implies that 1998 was the hottest year on record. Mr. Boyd carefully ignores the fact that for the last two years, it has been widely known that NASA's GISS data had incorrectly identified 1998 as the hottest year, and that corrected data put 1934 at the top of that list. NASA's correction of serious mathematical errors forced correction of 120 years of data, which now lists 1934 at #1, and 1921 at #3. The new data demonstrates that 6 of the top 10 hottest years took place when only 10% of the amount of greenhouse gases that have been emitted in the last century were in the atmosphere.

Still, desperate for scientific support, global warming alarmists, married to an apocalyptic theory, cling to old, FALSE DATA to keep their panic-driven fantasy alive.

Ronald Reagan: Wise words on socialized healthcare

2009-08-08T13:19:00.001-05:00

48 years later, liberals have not given up their quest to usurp our freedoms, and we must not give up in our quest to retain them!

I LUV Southwest Airlines

2009-08-06T08:19:00.001-05:00

I travel to Houston from Dallas every week. That makes me the kind of business traveler for whom Southwest Airlines was invented. In case you don't know, SWA was conceived on a cocktail napkin, with a vision of servicing passengers between Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

One of my favorite things about SWA is the people. Forget about the convenience, on-time status, low fares, abundance of flights, etc. This is just like any other business. It's PEOPLE that make the difference. Today was no different.

One of the perks of being a frequent traveler with SWA is their Rapid Rewards program. You can earn a free round trip with just 16 flights. If you fly 32 flights in a year, you are put on the "A-List". The A-List guarantees you an "A" boarding card (1st 60 passengers to board) and more importantly, earns you coveted access to the "Fly-by lane" at airport security. This is an amazing perk, similar to being able to bypass the line for attractions at Disney World or at Universal Studios with certain hotel room keys, etc.

I very recently regained my A-List status. It was so recent that I have not yet received the plastic card in the mail, so I printed temporary documentation from the SWA website, in preparation for today's flight. As I approached the Fly-by lane this morning, the attendant (not TSA) waved me to the other line. I showed him my printed documentation of A-List, but he did not even look. He just kept pointing to the other line. I patiently explained to him that the printed sheet documented that I was A-list, and that I had not yet received my card. He still looked up, and just pointed to the other line again (it was a LONG line) and told me to go complain to someone else. So I did.....

...But I didn't actually have to complain. I walked over to the SWA ticket counter, and before I got all the way there, was greeted by a smiling Southwest employee (it was 6:30 am). I told her what had happened, and smile still intact, she walked immediately to get a supervisor. The supervisor (Janice), also smiling, glanced at my printed sheet, and offered to help. She walked me back over to the line attendant (not an SWA employee) and told him I was clearly A-list and to let me through. She further explained that there may be others like me who did not yet have cards, and instead might have something printed. He grumbled that he did not have time to read it. Finally, her smile went away. She said to him "honey, you have to read it. That's how you give customer service. I'm going to talk to your supervisor." Her smile quickly returned as I walked through the Fly-by lane. She wished me safe travel, and walked away smiling.

Thank you Janice. You are why I fly Southwest every week.

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Shocking? Not a bit.

2009-08-04T11:04:00.006-05:00

NOT a shock at all. Neither is this weekend's "revelation" that the administration is looking to hit the middle class with tax increases (LINK, LINK). If you are shocked by this, then you have been asleep or not paying attention.

Liberals do not like being confronted with their own words....especially words that reveal their real agenda. The Obama administration is so tweaked by this, that they are actually campaigning against it, saying it was taken out of context. They are using video from two months ago to show that the older video is "disinformation". They don't realize that's the whole point: Obama is saying something different now than he said before. Which one do we believe?

Out of context, they say? I don't think so:

So let's see:

White House? Check
Senate? Check
House of Representatives? Check
Universal/Single-payer healthcare? ON THE WAY!

Senator Hutchison to resign!

2009-07-30T10:34:00.002-05:00

Just SIX days ago, I called for the resignation of Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R)-Texas. Maybe she's listening:

Hutchison plans to Resign this Fall.......
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My favorite place in the entire world

2009-07-26T09:38:00.000-05:00

This is how I stay sane...

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The truth about the "45 Million Uninsured"

2009-07-24T07:12:00.002-05:00

We keep hearing this number over and over: 45 Million Americans uninsured. Again and again we hear this as part of the scare tactic of those that would have the government take over 1/6 of the United States' economy.

So, what are the facts about these unfortunate 45 million uninsured?

First of all, let's do some quick math. That means that over 250 million Americans have health insurance. That's 85% of the population. Who are the remaining 15%?

Illegal aliens: 10 million of these 45 million are not in the country legally. Clearly the taxpayer has no responsibility to pay for their healthcare.

Young people: 18 million of the uninsured are between 18 and 35. These are typically healthy people, living without health insurance by CHOICE.

That is well over half of the 45 million, leaving only 17 million uninsured. I heard today that over 1 million of these are eligible for Medicare, but have not registered, for whatever reason. That means that about 95% of Americans citizens that want healthcare insurance already have it, and the 5% who don't, are not the same people in any given 12 month period. That means that many of these are people who are uninsured for a short period of time, and then have insurance again, replaced by someone else who temporarily falls off the insurance rolls. This is probably employment related.

This does not mean that we don't need to improve the system, and I have like some of the concepts I've heard (which I'll detail at a later time), but we do not have a crisis of the sort described by liberals in power, outside of funding the disaster of programs we already have under government control, and liberals' ambitions to derive more power by nationalizing healthcare.

The Deafening Silence of Kay Bailey Hutchison

2009-07-23T13:02:00.001-05:00

In my reflection on last night's Obamacare press conference, I cannot help but wonder if Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison's (R-Texas) apparent recent laryngectomy would have been covered. Where is the Senior Senator from Texas? I have heard a lot from Senator Cornyn, but while Obama, Pelosi, Reid and their accomplices engage in their daily windup to destruction of this country, Senator Hutchison is silent. I have written her to ask, but have only received form-letter responses, seemingly based on "keywords" in my written query.

Her absence from the debate on Sotomayor, Cap and Trade, and Obamacare takes her out of qualification in her quest to be elected Governor of this great state. My first thought when hearing Senator Hutchison's gubernatorial aspirations, was that she would be a great governor, but her leadership would be needed in the senate minority. Now that she has vanished, I don't want her in either seat. Please make your retirement from public life official Senator, and resign while Governor Perry can appoint a worthy replacement.

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Red pill/Blue pill

2009-07-22T23:39:00.002-05:00

President Obama tonight gave his sales pitch for Obamacare/healthcare reform tonight during a primetime press conference. I had to go for a walk on the beach just to keep my head from exploding. The entire thing was a giant smokescreen for government healthcare.

As absurd as his assertions were, including his repeated references to "market-based solutions", which is the exact opposite of the actual proposal, there is just one analogy he proposed that keeps coming back to me. He tried to say something about a patient having a choice between a "red pill" and a "blue pill", which would provide similar outcomes, and that patients should have access to the red pill if it's less expensive. I could not agree more. Where his analogy falls apart is that he wants a government bureaucrat deciding which pill the patient gets (and IF they get it), instead of the consumer/patient making that decision for themselves. A bureaucrat making healthcare decisions for individuals is NOT a market-based solution. It just drives me insane that he gets away with wrapping his proposals in this conservative language, when the reality is such the opposite.

False choices

2009-07-21T21:20:00.003-05:00

Healthcare battle 'isn't about me': Obama

This headline made me laugh. Obama seems to think EVERYTHING is about him. When it comes to a healthcare bill he's trying to ram through by next month, one that will change the very foundation of this country, to hear him say it's not about him is just laughable.

What really drives me nuts about this article is a common strategy used by liberals. In pitching his healthcare plan, Obama says, "There are some in this town who are content to perpetuate the status quo, are in fact fighting reform on behalf of powerful special interests". This is just a ludicrous statement, to imply that anyone opposing his massive government takeover of healthcare is supporting the "status quo", and that they are evilly doing so on behalf of some mysterious "special interest". The implication is that "if you don't support my plan, then you support doing nothing, and are aligning yourself with these evil special interests who are profitting off of keeping things the way they are". It's insulting to believe that we will accept that "false choice", but Obama is so arrogant that he believes we will accept everything he tells us as plain fact, especially after it's blown back at us by the media as the gospel straight from the mouth of the messiah.

The fact is, that the only special interest being supported here is the ever-expanding federal government, with the full cooperation of the slobbering Democrats in Washington, drunk on their massive majority power.

Good news is, that I think this is the turning point in the liberal accumulation of power. They have absolutely hung themselves with such a rapid power grab, that even the most politically myopic voter can clearly see. SC Senator Jim DeMint called this healthcare bill Obama's "Waterloo". I think I have to concur.

Barbara Boxer called out

2009-07-16T18:14:00.003-05:00

Liberals do this all the time. Barbara Boxer gets called out for playing identity politics with an African American man who wants to be judged by the content of his character.

Update: Interview with Harry Alford on the O'Reilly Factor

Obamacare legislation in the Senate effectively outlaws private health insurance

2009-07-16T10:04:00.004-05:00

Well, he promised change:

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=332548165656854

FYI: This piece of crap legislation has already passed committee in the Senate
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Convenient Truth: Global warming is totally BUNK

2009-07-13T14:49:00.003-05:00

There just seems to be an amazing abundance of news out there these days debunking man-made global warming. Every day this crusade by Algore and his followers is more and more exposed for the scam that it is.

This quote by Australian Geologist Ian Plimer, who says modern environmentalism is driven by people who are "too wealthy", is very insightful:

‘When I try explaining “global warming” to people in Iran or Turkey they have no idea what I’m talking about. Their life is about getting through to the next day, finding their next meal. Eco-guilt is a first-world luxury. It’s the new religion for urban populations which have lost their faith in Christianity. The IPCC report is their Bible. Al Gore and Lord Stern are their prophets.’

Here are a couple of more articles providing more rational thought around the reality of "climate change".

Meet the Man Who has Exposed the Great Climate Change Con Trick

The Global Warming Debate

Damned Global Warming Skeptics
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Plug-in electric cars

2009-07-13T09:40:00.002-05:00

HA! I have been saying this for years....what good will it do to move from gasoline powered cars to electric cars? The power to charge the battery has to be generated in some way, so it just shifts the alleged problem somewhere else. Now don't get me wrong, I have no problem with coal-fired power, and more importantly, building new nuclear power plants to power our electrical grids, but this just shows that these grandiose solutions proposed by our politicians have not been thought through to the obvious conclusions. They are just soundbites, designed to support their "environmentally conscious" campaign persona.

Not So Fast With Those Electric Cars

Alternative Energy: A government report says reliance on electric cars will do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and may merely shift our dependence on foreign sources from one set of dictators to another.

It's a beautiful theory — highways full of electric cars emitting no greenhouse gases or pollutants after being plugged into an outlet in our garages overnight. The problem, according to a new Government Accountability Office report, is that the effort may only shift the problem somewhere else.

"If you are using coal-fired power plants, and half the country's electricity comes from coal-powered plants, are you just trading one greenhouse gas emitter for another?" asks Mark Gaffigan, co-author of the GAO report. The report itself notes: "Reductions in CO2 emissions depend on generating electricity used to charge the vehicles from lower-emission sources of energy."

The GAO report says a plug-in compact car, if recharged at an outlet drawing its power from coal, provides a carbon dioxide savings of only 4% to 5%. If the feeling of saving the environment from driving an electric car causes people to drive more, that small amount of savings vanishes entirely.

On top of that, these little cars are deathtraps. I heard a story recently of a 19-year old girl in Houston driving her "Smart-car", who was killed when hit by a pickup. As you can imagine, the little Smart-car did not stand a chance. I'm guessing she would have walked away, had she been driving an SUV, or other vehicle of any substantial weight/size.

How to confuse an environmental activist

2009-07-08T11:42:00.002-05:00

It's not hard to do. This past Sunday, I attended the Vans Warped Tour in Dallas, with my 14-year old daughter, and her friend and friend's dad. There were booths set up all over the grounds of the music festival, and as you can imagine, there was a presence from environmental activist groups, including Greenpeace.

I stopped by the Greenpeace booth a couple of times. Since I was not dressed in any way that would give away my status as a "Conservative Activist", I decided to pretend I was a militant environmental wacko (with a twist, of course). My first visit to the Greenpeace booth was simple. I just asked the guy if he was really in Greenpeace, and told him I had once seen the Rainbow Warrior (Greenpeace ship) in the harbor in Baltimore. He was impressed by this, and it seemed to greatly enhance my credibility, as he had never himself seen the ship.

I asked him what they were doing to save the environment, and expressed my disappointment with President Obama and his inaction on taking real steps to improve the environment. Both dudes in the booth quickly agreed, and dogpiled Obama, calling him an "actor" who just said what it takes to get elected. I was surprised with how quickly they turned on Obama, but I kept pressing on, and punctuating my sentences with the word "man", and trying to sound disgruntled. I bashed Obama several times, questioning his motivation on the recent climate change bill that had passed the House, and this seemed to fire them up even more. They really bit when I speculated the "outsourcing" of jobs and manufacturing to countries with less regulation, and that that would actually cause MORE pollution and CO2 emissions worldwide, exacerbating the problem.

Later, I came back by the booth, and noticed the solar panel next to the tent. By this time, there was a chick working the booth, and the other two dudes were gone. I asked her if it was a functioning solar panel, and she replied that it was. I asked her if the entire tour was run on solar energy. She said it was not, and looked a little sheepish and seemed ashamed. Being a concerned citizen of the world, I pressed on.....

At this point she was obviously feeling pressured. My next step was to inquire about the total carbon footprint of the tour. She quickly admitted that she did not know, and was eager to refer me to the "tour information booth" down the aisle. She did tell me though, that she was pretty sure that the tour was being powered by biofuels. This was the opening I had been looking for. At the mention of biofuels, I got visibly angry, and went on a rant about biofuels causing starvation in the third world. It was something like this: "How can freaking Americans be so arrogant to think they have a right to starve these poverty stricken populations just so we can feel better about our carbon emissions? Besides that, the demand for biofuels is resulting in the razing of the rainforests, as farmers in other countries rush to grow these crops." I went on a verbal rampage for as long as I could, and then stormed off in a "rage" as fast as possible to get in the clear before I broke out into uncontrollable laughter.

This mission was so much fun, that I tried (unsuccessfully) to find the PETA booth to see what kind of trouble I could cause there.

I love outdoor concerts, even in the heat of the Texas Summer (we were blessed with a cool day of about 90 degrees this time), and I enjoyed seeing all the bands, and the people watching, of course. I was there for the music, and for the time with my daughter. Harassing enviro-nuts was just a bonus.

"The Science is settled"

2009-07-01T17:57:00.003-05:00

Isn't that what they keep telling us? The science is settled right? "Scientific consensus."

If that's the case, why do the global warming alarmists have to keep muzzling dissent? This time it's a polar bear expert, banned from speaking at the "Polar Bear Specialist Group" meeting (set up under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature/Species Survival Commission). Why would they ban Dr. Mitchell Taylor, who has been researching polar bears in the Arctic for over 30 years? Simply because of his views on human-induced climate change. He agrees that the Arctic is warming, but believes it to be due to ocean currents and wind, NOT by rising CO2. He also notes that during the past 30 years, polar bear populations have GROWN, not declined. For these positions, the polar bear expert is barred from speaking at the polar bear meeting.

I guess if they can silence the dissenters (does that sound kind of "Soviet"?), then they can maintain "scientific consensus", whatever that is.

(Note: The image of the polar bear above has been widely used to demonstrate the plight of the poor polar bears, being stranded and destroyed due to human (American) pillaging of the planet with noxious CO2. This image was actually taken by a photographer who says the bears were not in danger, but were "playing" on an ice flow.)
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Global warming is a scam

2009-06-29T19:14:00.008-05:00

It has long been my contention that anthropogenic "global warming" or "climate change" is a complete scam, a scare tactic designed to get us to hand over more regulatory power to the government. Further supporting my assertion, it has now come to light, that President Obama's EPA actively suppressed dissenting scientific opinion within the agency, due to the fact that "the administration has decided to move forward... and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision." Thirty-year EPA veteran Alan Carlin was the primary author of the 98-page report, which warned against making hasty "decisions based on a scientific hypothesis that does not appear to explain most of the available data."

Our government is now silencing dissenting scientific opinion, while they continue to claim "scientific consensus" as the rationale for massive regulation and taxation of CO2 and other so-called "greenhouse gases".

More from CBSnews.com:

Carlin has an undergraduate degree in physics from CalTech and a PhD in economics from MIT. His Web site lists papers about the environment and public policy dating back to 1964, spanning topics from pollution control to environmentally-responsible energy pricing.

After reviewing the scientific literature that the EPA is relying on, Carlin said, he concluded that it was at least three years out of date and did not reflect the latest research. "My personal view is that there is not currently any reason to regulate (carbon dioxide)," he said. "There may be in the future. But global temperatures are roughly where they were in the mid-20th century. They're not going up, and if anything they're going down."

Carlin's report listed a number of recent developments he said the EPA did not consider, including that global temperatures have declined for 11 years; that new research predicts Atlantic hurricanes will be unaffected; that there's "little evidence" that Greenland is shedding ice at expected levels; and that solar radiation has the largest single effect on the earth's temperature.

Further Obama news today: He introduced new "lighting standards" to the nation intended to reduce energy consumption by using all compact fluorescent light bulbs, starting in the White House. Unfortunately for Obama, this "example" was a step taken by President Bush a few years ago, in all White House light fixtures except chandeliers. Just view this as a first step towards Federal regulation of what light bulbs we are allowed to use.

Got to go....running to Wal-Mart to stock up on incandescent bulbs.

VIDEO UPDATE: Dr. Carlin interviewed on Fox News

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"The RINO 8"

2009-06-27T10:25:00.004-05:00

EIGHT "Republicans" voted "yay" on yesterday's climate change bill in the house. If only four of them had voted the right way, this horrible bill would be dead. The worst part is, no one really read the bill. I think it's safe to say that 100% of those voting were not fully aware of what they were voting on. In defense of those voting "nay", it didn't take much reading to realize how bad this piece of legislation really was. Representative John Boehner made a valiant attempt at a filibuster, by reading only selections from the 300+ page amendment that was submitted after 3 am yesterday.

I hope that the "RINO 8" are all challenged by real conservatives in the next election cycle. I also hope that this is a turning point. I believe that the American voters will have to know that this bill is dangerous, and will punish those that supported it by returning them to the private sector next year.

Let's just pray that the Senate has a little more sense than the House. Maybe they'll actually read the bill before bringing it to vote. If not, we will be facing the most massive "hidden" tax increase in the history of mankind. If this bill does become law, it should trigger a big shift in power back to conservatives. Democrats will then be responsible for deepening and prolonging the recession, and will surely be driven from power. At that time, with REAL conservatives back in office, we can just repeal the legislation and get things right again.

I'm keeping the faith.

Photoshop credit: Leo Alberti (via www.michellemalkin.com)

Close Quarters

2009-06-17T09:56:00.001-05:00

I am flying on a SWA 737 that has 23 rows of six seats per row. That's 3 seats on each side of the aisle. That makes 92 total seats that are aisle or window seats.

I had boarding pass B9, making me the 69th passenger to board after pre-boards, so how the hell did I end up in a center seat? I know for a fact there were not 23 pre-boards.

So anyway, I'm now stuck in a center seat on row 15, next to a guy who is in serious need of a shower, and more importantly, some deodorant. Seriously, is this kind of B.O. acceptable in ANY culture?

I tried to align the air vent in such a way to create an airwall to block the smell, but this is only having intermittent success. My neck is hurting from trying to cock my head to the left side of the airwall, and still the smell is breaking through.

I also tried to position my newspaper in a way to further block the smell, but the air stream from the vent is blowing the paper and actually fanning the stench around making it worse.

Thank God this is a short flight.

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The Newt Gingrich Stimulus Plan

2009-06-11T09:11:00.003-05:00

Newt Gingrich addressed the 2009 GOP Congressional Dinner this week in Washington. In his 56 minute keynote speech, he laid out a brilliant vision for America, which makes me hope and pray that he will run for President in three years.

While I cannot do his 56 minute speech justice in any attempt to summarize, I can outline below what I will call Newt's Stimulus Plan, which all centers around putting money back in the hands of American citizens and businesses, to energize the economy and get it moving back in the right direction.

A two-year, 50% reduction in Social Security and Medicare tax for both employee and employer match.
Match the Chinese tax on capital gains: their rate is ZERO.
Adopt the Irish tax rate on corporations of 12.5%.
Abolish the death tax.

I have greatly oversimplified his brilliant address with the four bullet-points above. You can watch his speech below, or read the transcript at this link: Newt's speech to 2009 GOP fundraising dinner.

UPDATE (7/23/09): Here is the official position from AmericanSolutions.com

Our Solution for Jobs

To get our economy back on track and to create jobs now, we must fundamentally shift power from politicians to small business, from lobbyists to entrepreneurs, and from bureaucrats to investors.

Here is our proposal to do just that:

Cut the Payroll Tax by 50% for Two Years. Every single working American pays the payroll tax. In this economy, many people may not get a pay raise, but this would give every working American a take home pay raise, immediately. This would also free up cash for every employer, immediately.

Abolish Taxes on Capital Gains. If we want to compete with China and have most productive factories in the world, the best jobs, and the highest take home pay, we should match China's capital gains rate of zero. This would dramatically increase investment in America.

Reduce the Corporate Tax Rate. When you combine state and federal taxes, America has the highest corporate tax structure in the world. We believe that by matching the Irish corporate tax rate of 12.5%, America would be the most desirable economy in the world to open a factory, create a new job, and develop a new product.

Abolish the Death Tax. If we want to be pro-work, pro-savings, and pro-family, we should not punish, but instead reward people who have worked, saved and created wealth all their life.

Jobs "saved or created"

2009-06-10T15:59:00.002-05:00

there's a great new fabricated statistic being used by the Obama administration to describe the overwhelming success of the stimulus/spending binge. Since the economy continues to shed jobs, and has gotten worse, not better under Obama, I guess this new term allows them to feed something positive to the media, which of course they gladly report without question.

"Jobs created or saved" gives them the ability to say "it would have been worse without our amazing plan in place", even as things continue to go badly.

This reminds me of when my wife "saves me" hundreds of dollars by buying Prada shoes "on sale".

Perspective

2009-06-04T13:41:00.001-05:00

Timeline of finiancial crisis

2009-05-29T08:23:00.001-05:00

This video is from months ago. Makes you wonder how ANY of the mentioned democrats are now in charge of actually fixing this problem, since they were clearly complicit in creating it.

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomajor provides an excellent definition of "legislating from the bench"

2009-05-27T17:23:00.002-05:00